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U.S. Men's National Team Downs Germany, 3-1, in Pre-Tournament Game

05/06/2014, 4:00pm EDT

By USAHockey.com

NUREMBERG, Germany -- Tyler Johnson (Spokane, Wash./Tampa Bay Lightning) had two goals and five other U.S. skaters recorded a point to help the U.S. Men's National Team defeat Germany, 3-1, in a pre-tournament matchup here today.

Team USA will open its preliminary-round schedule of the International Ice Hockey Federation Men's World Championship Friday (May 9) against Belarus at 1:45 p.m. ET. The game can be seen live on NBC Sports Network in the U.S.

Team USA struck for a pair of early goals in the first period to build a 2-0 lead. Johnson opened the scoring with an unassisted marker at 4:48 before Johnny Gaudreau (Carneys Points, N.J./Calgary Flames) found the back of the net with help from Jeff Petry (Ann Arbor, Mich./Edmonton Oilers) and Tim Stapleton (La Grange, Ill.) just 14 seconds later.

Johnson boosted the U.S. lead to 3-0 when he netted his second of the contest less than a minute into the middle stanza. Craig Smith (Madison, Wis./Nashville Predators) and Brock Nelson (Warroad, Minn./N.Y. Islanders) were credited with assists on the play.

The Germans pulled back to within two when Sinan Akdag scored at 14:41 of the second period with assists from Felix Schutz and Yasin Ehliz.

Neither team managed to score in the final frame.

Goaltenders David Leggio (Williamsville, N.Y./Hershey Bears) and Connor Hellebuyck (Commerce, Mich./UMass Lowell) split time in goal for Team USA. Leggio, who started the contest and played 33:07, stopped all 13 shots he faced. Hellebuyck entered the game in the second period and had 13 saves on 14 Team Germany tries.

Notes: Sixteen teams will compete at the 2014 IIHF Men's World Championship, split into two groups of eight. Teams will play a round-robin format among their group with the top four teams from each group advancing to quarterfinals … NBC Sports Network will televise and stream all Team USA games in the 2014 IIHF Men's World Championship ... Twenty of 25 members of Team USA played U.S. college hockey ... Seven of the 25 players are products of USA Hockey's National Team Development Program, including Jimmy Hayes, Seth Jones, Jake McCabe, Peter Mueller, Connor Murphy, Drew Shore and Jacob Trouba ... Thirteen NHL teams are represented on the roster: Buffalo Sabres, Calgary Flames, Dallas Stars, Detroit Red Wings, Edmonton Oilers, Florida Panthers, Nashville Predators, New York Islanders, Phoenix Coyotes, San Jose Sharks, Tampa Bay Lightning, Toronto Maple Leafs and Winnipeg Jets ... The staff and players of the 2014 U.S. Men's National Team were selected by the U.S. Men's National Team Advisory Group, led by Jim Johannson, assistant executive director of hockey operations for USA Hockey. Other members, all affiliated with National Hockey League teams, include Stan Bowman (Chicago), Brian Burke (Calgary), Paul Holmgren (Philadelphia), Dean Lombardi (Los Angeles), David Poile (Nashville), Ray Shero (Pittsburgh), Dale Tallon (Florida), and Don Waddell (Pittsburgh). Tom Kurvers (Tampa Bay) will be part of the advisory group for this year's championship ... USA Hockey's international council, chaired by Gavin Regan, vice president of USA Hockey, has oversight responsibilities for all U.S. national teams.